British partygoers are set to spend around £315 million on decorations, fancy dress costumes and pumpkins this Halloween.

Scottish newspaper the Sunday Mail noted the amount of money spent on the event has grown significantly in the past decade, rocketing up from £12 million in 2001, as people dress up for parties at function venues up and down the country.

Paddy O’Donnell, professor of psychology at the University of Glasgow, suggested that a big influence on the British acceptance of Halloween has been the extent to which the US celebrates the occasion; they are predicted to splash out $6.86 billion this year, including $310 million on outfits for pets.

With regards to the way the event is celebrated, the academic added: “They have kept the ghosts and the scary bits but stripped away the supernatural aspects of Halloween. As the shops’ tills need to ring all year round, there is now a general commercialisation of festivals.”

A Woolworths.co.uk poll reported by Mail Online showed that Halloween is now the second most popular family occasion behind Christmas and parents are matching this sentiment with their wallets; on average £100 will be spent on children’s parties at the end of the month.

In terms of fancy dress costumes, the most searched for options last year were Disney characters, Lady Gaga and pirates. This year, the website is predicting superhero outfits will be a hit, due to the release of films like Green Lantern, Captain America and X-Men: First Class.